In a bizarre incident, over 2,500 passengers from two express trains got stuck on Wednesday (29th November) at Burhwal junction in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki district after staff from one of the trains left the train saying that their duty hours were over and the loco pilot said he was feeling unwell. When another train arrived at the station, passengers of the earlier train blocked it demanding that their train should move first, which led to the delay of the second train, and its staff also said that their shift was over, and refused to run the train further.
The suffering and enraged passengers staged protests by going onto the rail track and obstructing the passage of an express train since they were left stuck without food, water, or electricity inside the train.
The incident occurred between the Saharsa-New Delhi Special Fare Chhath Puja Special (04021) and the Barauni-Lucknow Junction Express (15203). A few hours later, employees from Gonda Junction were sent by North Eastern Railway (NER) to attend to the two express trains in an attempt to calm down the situation.
Railway records show that 04021 departed Saharsa at 9.30 am on 28th November instead of the scheduled departure time of 7.15 pm on 27th November. The train took more than 19 hours to arrive in Gorakhpur. The express does not stop at Burhwal junction, but it did make an unplanned stop at 1:15 pm due to a crossing with a goods train. However, even after the good train had passed, the train remained stationary at the station. After around an hour, the passengers became restless and started to create a rucous.
When they approached the station master, the station master went to the locomotive to find out why the train had not moved. But then he approached the loco pilot and the guard, they told him that their shift was over so they would not proceed further. They handed him over the required papers and left the station, leaving the passengers stranded.
The station master then informed the control room about the development, after which replacement loco pilot and guard were sent to the station to move the train forward.
In the meanwhile the Barauni-Lucknow Express which was already running late by more than five hours and 30 minutes arrived at Burhwal junction at 4.04 p.m. But the passengers of the previous train blocked it there, demanding that their train should be moved first. As a result, both the passenger trains got stuck at the station. After some time, the staff of the Barauni train also said that their shift is over, therefore they would not be able to proceed further. Authorities arranged replacement staff for the second train too. After they arrived, both the trains were dispatched from the station.
“Our journey was supposed to end in a maximum of 25 hours 20 minutes, but it’s the third day in this so-called ‘special train’. This is a special torture created by Indian railways for poor passengers like us. There is no water, no pantry car to buy food, and no power supply. Both the loco-pilots and train guard have alighted from the train citing drowsiness,” a passenger traveling from Saharsa to New Delhi was quoted as saying by the TOI.
Reports mention that the train stood stranded at the Burhwal junction in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki district for around 3 hours. Passengers meanwhile protested and slammed the Indian Railways for this mismanagement. The food and water at the few stalls at the small stations were quickly exhausted, leaving many people without food and water.
It is notable that the duty hours of loco pilots in Indian Railways is between 8-10 hours, and it should not exceed 12 hours as per guidelines. Loco pilots and guards of a train are changed at specific stations. These are generally bigger stations and have running facilities for the staff. But in case of trains running several hours late, the shift of the staff may get over at a place without arrangement for replacement. In such cases, replacement staff have to be sent to such unscheduled stations.
On Wednesday (November 29), Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger passed away at his home in Connecticut at the age of 100. Kissinger’s death was announced in a statement by his consulting firm, which did not mention the cause. Kissinger, a statesman, and celebrity diplomat held unparalleled power over US foreign policy during the administrations of Presidents Richard M Nixon and Gerald Ford. After Nixon became the U.S. president in 1969, Kissinger was appointed as the National Security Advisor.
Henry Kissinger oversaw US military actions around the world during his tenure, first as National Security Adviser and later as Secretary of State, influencing events in China, Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent with long term implications. His role during the Vietnam war, and his bombing campaign in Cambodia resulted in deaths of untold people. Hailed as an ace of statecraft and diplomacy many; others, particularly the sufferers of his political and military activities, will remember him as an oppressor.
Beyond the conventional meaning of ‘legitimacy,’ Henry Kissinger held that the international order was “legitimate” as long as decision-makers in major nations were willing to accept it — and that problems of public opinion and morality could therefore be discarded as immaterial.
Bangladesh Liberation War and the Kissinger Intervention
When conflict erupted between India and Pakistan in 1971 over the Pakistani army’s genocide of the Bengali population in East Pakistan and the ensuing refugee crisis, Islamabad served as an intermediary to facilitate exchanges between Beijing and Washington at a period when relations between the two were nearly absent.
On March 25, 1971, the Pakistan Army launched Operation Searchlight, a brutal crackdown on East Pakistan’s nationalist movement after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League won 160 out of 162 seats in the East registering an absolute majority. The genocide and rape of the Bengali people of the then East Pakistan was spearheaded by former Army chief General Yahya Khan. Even as per the conservative estimates, over 200,000 Bengalis were killed and in a deliberate campaign of genocidal rape, Pakistani military personnel and the Razakars raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bengali women and girls. An even more terrifying aspect of this genocide of the Bengalis of East Pakistan was that both President Nixon and Henry Kissinger were aware of Yahya Khan’s repressive actions in the occupied land and did nothing. It is worth noting that Kissinger was behind US’s pro-Pakistan tilt since he opined that favouring Pakistan would help US forge new ties with China.
In his book ‘White House Years’, Kissinger wrote, “The issue (Pakistan crisis) burst upon us while Pakistan was our only channel to China.”
The Blood Telegram
As the Pakistani crimes continued unabated, Archer Blood, the US Consul General in Dhaka, wrote to Washington DC in April 1971 to assist, but was met with what Blood described as a “deafening silence.” As the US continued to provide Pakistan with military and economic help, Blood and his staff issued a strongly worded dissent letter.
“…. Our government has evidenced what many will consider moral bankruptcy, ironically at a time when the USSR sent President Yahya a message2 defending democracy, condemning arrest of leader of democratically elected majority party (incidentally pro-West) and calling for end to repressive measures and bloodshed. In our most recent policy paper for Pakistan,3 our interests in Pakistan were defined as primarily humanitarian, rather than strategic. But we have chosen not to intervene, even morally, on the grounds that the Awami conflict, in which unfortunately the overworked term genocide is applicable, is purely internal matter of a sovereign state. Private Americans have expressed disgust. We, as professional public servants express our dissent with current policy and fervently hope that our true and lasting interests here can be defined and our policies redirected in order to salvage our nationʼs position as a moral leader of the free world,” Archer Blood’s telegram read.
The Blood Telegram (Source: US State Department website)
The US encouraged China to make military moves to ‘intimidate’ India
In Henry Kissinger’s own words, ” The United States, with Pakistan at the time as a conduit in conducting secret negotiations with China, sought to defuse the crisis and prevent fighting between India and Pakistan. When the fighting developed, the Nixon administration “tilted” toward Pakistan. The tilt involved the dispatch of the aircraft carrier Enterprise to the Bay of Bengal to try to intimidate the Indian Government. It also involved encouraging China to make military moves to achieve the same end, and an assurance to China that if China menaced India and the Soviet Union moved against China in support of India, the United States would protect China from the Soviet Union. China chose not to menace India, and the crisis on the subcontinent ended without a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. For a brief period in December 1971, however, the record indicates that the crisis had a dangerous potential and that President Nixon and his National Security Assistant Henry Kissinger were prepared to accept serious risks to achieve their policy objectives.”
President Richard Nixon with Henry Kissinger (Image via US State Department)
According to a report by The Atlantic, Kissinger had ignored the rise and strength of Bengali nationalism and believed in the Pakistani military’s assertion that the Bengalis were ‘cowardly’ people and easy to subdue. “The Bengalis aren’t very good fighters I guess. The use of power against seeming odds pays off. ’Cause all the experts were saying that 30,000 people can’t get control of 75 million. Well, this may still turn out to be true but as of this moment it seems to be quiet,” Kissinger told President Nixon.
Kissinger’s disdain towards India and Indians has not been a secret, as evident from Nixon and Kissinger’s meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi a month before India declared war on Pakistan in December 1971. Following the meeting, the duo called Indira Gandhi a “b*ch”, with Kissinger accusing her of “starting a war”. Kissinger called Indians “b***ds”, and “the most aggressive people around”.
Henry Kissinger with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (Image via Wikimedia Commons)
In a secret meeting with a Chinese delegation during the 1971 war, Kissinger not only admitted to supplying weapons to Pakistan, via Iran and Jordan, but also boasted he did so despite being aware that his actions violated the congressional arms embargo.
In a meeting with Nixon and Attorney General Newton Mitchell on December 8, 1971, Kissinger said that he had “got a message to you from the Shah (of Iran), in which he says he can send ammunition (to a beleaguered Pakistan) – he is doing it now.”
Kissinger’s indifference to the plight of Bengali freedom fighters in East Pakistan is evident in his conversation with the US President in 1972 wherein he said: “Not one has yet understood what we did in India-Pakistan and how we saved the China option which we need for the bloody Russians. Why should we give a damn about Bangladesh?”
In his book “The Blood Telegram and a Forgotten Genocide”, Princeton University professor Gary J Bass described the genocide of Bengali rebellions as “one of the cardinal moral challenges of recent history.” “Although today it is far more familiar to South Asians than to Americans. It had a monumental impact on India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh — almost a sixth of humanity in 1971,” Bass writes.
Cover of Gary J Bass’s book, The Blood Telegram
When Kissinger told Nixon “You’ve saved West Pakistan”
According to confidential documents disclosed by the US Department of State, a day after Dhaka was liberated on December 16, 1971, then-US President Richard Nixon was told by his strategic advisor Henry Kissinger that he had “saved West Pakistan.” Despite diplomatic humiliation, Kissinger informed President Nixon, “Congratulations, Mr. President. You saved West Pakistan.”
Years later, Kissinger admitted that the US stance in the Bangladesh Liberation War was “a case history of political misjudgment”. Apparently, in Kissinger’s quest to prevent India from allying with the Soviet Union and forging a new ‘alliance’ with China, he backed Pakistan as a counterbalance in the first case and a facilitator in the second. This, however, also facilitated Pakistan’s genocidal campaign against Bengali rebels who were slaughtered and raped mercilessly. The horror was such that Bengali women lay like corpses while Pakistani men raped them. Among Henry Kissinger’s many failures which include his failure in intimidating India, and establish long-lasting cordial relations with China, his indifference towards the democratic struggles of smaller nations remains the greatest despite the fact that he himself being someone who was driven out of his own country since he was a Jew when the Nazis rose to power and prominence in Germany.
An alarming incident has come to light in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi on the night of 29 November where two daughters lived with their mother’s corpse in a secluded house for nearly a year. Their mother had turned into a skeleton, but the girls didn’t cremate her. She died on 8 December 2022 due to illness because they lacked the resources for her treatment. Their father moved out of the house many years ago.
Afterwards, the deceased was securely concealed inside a quilt by her daughters. Meanwhile, the girls continued to celebrate birthdays and other special occasions at the residence. The mother has been identified as 52-year-old Usha Tripathi and the daughters are 27-year-old Pallavi Tripathi who is a post-graduate and 17 to 18-year-old Vaishnavi Tripathi has passed 10th grade.
The peculiar case pertained to the Madarwa neighbourhood of the Lanka police station. The duo manually removed and disposed of the worms after they had infected the body. When the stench became unbearable they climbed to the roof of the house and ate food there. On 29 November, the local authorities reached the location after learning about the matter, broke the locks on the three doors of the house and entered the place.
The neighbours alerted the relatives of the girls when they didn’t leave the house for several days. They arrived to inquire about the situation, however, were shocked to witness the horrifying scene and immediately notified the police who then removed the skeleton and sent it for postmortem. The woman’s clothes, slippers, sheets, quilts and other things were collected as evidence. The two girls were also brought out of the house and their mental condition is not well, based on the cops.
The neighbours called their aunt (mother’s sister) and her husband Dharmendra’s Chaturvedi who live in Mirzapur. As soon as they opened the door the two girls were found sitting with the corpse in a room after which authorities were summoned right away. The girls created a lot of ruckus and cried when they saw the cops. They took the body in their possession and started interrogating the pair.
The police learned that the woman’s health had deteriorated which ultimately caused her death. Her husband had left the family a long time ago. The daughters stored the body in a room and skipped the final ceremonies since they were short on funds and used things like incense sticks to get rid of the foul smell. The people were unaware of everything because there were no neighbours around the house. The daughters had been using the excuse of their mother’s poor health to send back any relatives that came to visit them for the last year. They refused to let anyone see her mother.
Usha Tripathi was the eldest of the three daughters of Ramakrishna Pandey, a resident of Holpur Rachauli village in Ubhaon police station area of Ballia. She was married to Deveshwar Tripathi of Akhop village, Belthara Road. She moved in with her father along with her two daughters following a disagreement with her spouse after ten years of marriage.
The police station in-charge said that both daughters stated that their mother used to throw up and passed away on 8 December 2022 as a result of illness. The body could not be burned due to financial constraints. The girls are currently under the guardianship of their aunt and uncle. The autopsy is being performed on the latter’s submission.
The daughters informed the police that they had lived off of the house’s possessions for four or five months after the death of their mother. They sold jewellery for Rs 20,000 when the food ran out and bought provisions for themselves. They also spent the cash present at home to cover the expenses and sometimes asked for money from the neighbours. When people asked them about their mother they alleged that her health was not good and she was sleeping. The neighbours didn’t care much and hence no one paid much attention. The daughters were not in contact with the father for the past six years.
The daughters hardly ever left the house, according to their neighbours. They would beg for a 10 lakh rupee loan to restart a cosmetic shop whenever someone showed up. The deceased’s brother-in-law (husband’s brother) Dyaneshwar Tripathi said that she was invited to attend special occasions multiple times and her husband also tried to contact her, but he was driven away and therefore he developed a mental ailment for which he is presently receiving therapy. Their late father Vyas Tripathi was a retired railway guard.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Kashi John RS Gautam also reached the location and spoke to both the girls. The Lanka police station in charge mentioned that the skeleton was found wrapped in a sheet and blanket. It won’t be known until the post-mortem whether the death was caused by natural causes or by homicide.
Laying it out in clear words for the advertising boycott campaign launched against Elon Musk-owned X, formerly Twitter, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO has told the “blackmailers” to “Go **** yourself”.
Speaking at an event, when Elon Musk was being questioned by the anchor, he replied by saying that he hoped the advertisers stopped and didn’t advertise.
BREAKING: Elon Musk tells advertisers to “go f**k” themselves if they are going to try and blackmail him on his own platform.
And this is exactly why Elon was the perfect person to buy Twitter 🔥
“If somebody's gonna try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with… pic.twitter.com/33dPDu8wZC
When asked what he meant, Musk said, “If someone is going to try and blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go **** yourself,” he said.
His comment was followed by a pin-drop silence and left the anchor flabbergasted when Musk reiterated, “Go **** yourself, is that clear? Hey Bob, if you’re in the audience. That’s how I feel, don’t advertise.”
The “Bob” that Musk referred to was Disney CEO Bob Iger who recently announced that the company will not advertise on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, anymore.
Musk further said that if such advertising boycott is going to “kill the company”, then the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company.
The conversation stemmed from the Tesla CEO’s recent visit to Israel to express solidarity with the victims of the 7th October deadly terrorist attack.
Musk was asked if his visit to Israel was an apology tour for his allegedly antisemitic post on X made months ago which prompted a spate of advertiser boycott.
Earlier in September, Musk reshared a post on X which supported the hastag “Ban The ADL”. ADL is a Soros-controlled agency which claims to do activism against anti-semitism.
Musk’s post was soon propagated as antisemitic by ADL prompting a wave of withdrawals from advertisers. On 5th September, Musk threatened to file a defamation lawsuit against the ADL and accused them of pressuring US advertisers to boycott the platform.
Musk claimed that X’s US ad revenue was down 60% and that the company had lost roughly $22 billion, which is half its value. Musk had purchased Twitter for $44 billion in October last year.
In more attempts to malign Musk and X, leftist media watchdog ‘Media Matters for America’ published a controversial article, claiming that X (formerly Twitter) was placing advertisements of large companies next to anti-Semitic posts.
In the article, it claimed, “As X owner Elon Musk continues his descent into white nationalist and antisemitic conspiracy theories, his social media platform has been placing ads for major brands like Apple, Bravo (NBCUniversal), IBM, Oracle, and Xfinity (Comcast) next to content that touts Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party.”
The leftist NGO, which too has a connection with George Soros, has now been sued by Musk even as X’s advertising revenue appears to be on a steep decline.
Meanwhile, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that “the association with Elon Musk and X was not necessarily a positive one for us and we decided to pull out our advertising”.
According to CNN, many advertisers have not only stopped advertising on X but also stopped posting altogether including flagship accounts of Disney, Paramount, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures, Universal, and Warner Bros. Discovery (CNN’s parent company) have not posted on the platform in roughly 10 days.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has confirmed the release of over 14 hostages, including 10 Israelis and four Thai nationals, from Hamas captivity, as reported by The Times of Israel.
As a part of the Israel-Hamas extended truce deal, Hamas released these 14 hostages, who have been transferred by the Red Cross from the Gaza Strip to Egypt via the Rafah crossing.
Earlier, Hamas released two dual Russian-Israeli citizens, Yelena Trupanov and her mother, Irena Tati, as part of a gesture to Russian President Vladimir Putin, unrelated to the truce deal with Israel, according to The Times of Israel.
The mother and daughter were then brought to Sheba Medical Centre following their return to Israel.
Moreover, according to The Times of Israel, the 10 Israeli hostages released were identified as Raz Ben Ami, Yarden Roman, Liat Atzili, Moran Stela Yanai, Liam Or, Itay Regev, Ofir Engel, Amit Shani, Gali Tarshansky and Raaya Rotem.
Moreover, the hostages will be brought to a meeting point where Israeli forces will verify their identities before escorting them into Israel via a side gate at the Kerem Shalom crossing.
Meanwhile, the IDF said, “The families of the hostages are being updated by IDF representatives with the latest available information.”
Excluding today’s release of hostages, 50 were released between Friday and Monday, while 10 others were freed on Tuesday night. According to the initial truce agreement, Israel agreed to halt its military operations in Gaza for four days and emphasised that it would release three Palestinian security prisoners for each of the 50 hostages freed from Gaza, The Times of Israel reported.
Notably, Israel President Isaac Herzog is set to attend the COP28 climate conference in Dubai later this week to hold sideline meetings with global leaders, in order to get the remaining hostages released from Gaza, his office said.
“The purpose of these meetings is to reveal to world leaders in a clear and profound manner the atrocities committed by the Hamas terror organization during the horrific massacre on October 7 and to emphasize the essential security threat that led to Israel’s forced entry into the war,” Herzog’s office said.
Furthermore, Herzog will also use the meetings to highlight the steps Israel is taking to mitigate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as it continues its war against Hamas once the truce concludes, The Times of Israel reported.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
The high-stakes Telangana Assembly elections are witnessing a triangular contest involving the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Congress.
Polling has commenced for all 119 constituencies from 7 am and will conclude at 6 pm today on 30th November.
In the hours preceding voters’ presence at polling booths, here’s a glimpse into key constituencies that will shape the political landscape.
The list of important constituencies includes Gajwel, Huzurabad, Korutla, Maheshwaram, Goshamahal, Mahbubnagar, LB Nagar, Warangal East and West, Bhupalapally, Khairatabad, Amberpet, Boath, Nirmal, Adilabad, Ramagundam, Peddapalli, Kothagudem, Armoor, Nizamabad Urban, Patancheru, Serilingampally, Husnabad, Dubbak, Kalwakurthy, and others.
Incumbent Chief Minister and the founder of BRS, K Chandrashekar Rao, or KCR, is contesting from two seats: his original seat, Gajwel, and Kamareddy. In the 2018 elections, KCR secured a victory in Gajwel by over 58,000 votes. This time, he faces BJP leader Etela Rajender in Gajwel and Congress state unit chief Revanth Reddy in Kamareddy.
His son and Telangana minister KT Rama Rao is contesting from the Sircilla seat, which he won in 2018 by a significant margin of over 89,000 votes.
KTR is facing BJP’s Rani Rudrama Reddy and Congress leader Kondam Karuna Mahender Reddy from Sircilla.
Both, Etela Rajender and Revanth Reddy are also contesting from two seats, with Etela in Huzurabad and Revanth Reddy in Kodangal.
A spotlight is on Korutla, where the BJP has fielded Lok Sabha member Arvind Dharmapuri against BRS’s Kalvakuntla Sanjay and Congress’s Narsinga Rao Juvvadi. In Maheshwaram, BRS has pitted Patlolla Sabitha Indra Reddy against K Laxma Reddy (Congress) and Andela Sriramulu Yadav (BJP). Goshamahal features BJP’s T Raja Singh, whose suspension was revoked last month, contesting against significant opposition.
A staunch critic of the BJP’s T Raja and the younger brother of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Akbaruddin Owaisi, is contesting from the Chandrayangutta constituency.
In Mahbubnagar, V Srinivas Goud (BRS) faces competition from AP Mithun Kumar Reddy of BJP and Yennam Srinivas Reddy of Congress. In LB Nagar, BJP’s Sama Ranga Reddy competes against Madhu Yaskhi Goud of Congress and Devireddy Sudhir Reddy (BRS).
Bhupalapally seat holds significance, with Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy representing BRS, Gandra Satyanarayana Rao from Congress, and G Keerthi Reddy from BJP. In Ramagundam, BRS’s Korukanti Chander Patel competes against Congress’s Makkan Singh Raj Thakur and BJP’s Kandula Sandhya Rani.
Peddapalli seat features the Congress candidate Chinthakunta Vijaya Ramana Rao against Pradeep Kumar Dugyala of the BJP and Dasari Manohar Reddy of BRS. Madhira Assembly constituency is set to witness a face-off between Congress leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and BRS’s Kamal Raju Lingala, with Bhatti winning by a small margin in previous elections.
Similarly, in Nizamabad Urban, BRS has fielded Goverdhan Bajireddy against Bhoopathi Reddy Rekulapally (Congress) and Dinesh Kumar Kulachari of the BJP.
While the BJP has an ambitious goal of seeing its first government in Telangana, the Congress is hoping to come to power on the basis of the “momentum” of the past few months. But the party has a huge, almost 18 per cent gap to cover in terms of voting percentage of previous assembly elections.
The BJP aspires to establish its first government in Telangana, while the Congress aims to leverage recent momentum, despite facing an almost 18 per cent gap in voting percentage compared to previous assembly elections.
If KCR secures another term, it would mark the first instance of a Chief Minister from a southern state serving three consecutive terms. (ANI)
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
On 29th November, Deputy Superintendent of Police Chandigarh, Ram Gopal, said in a statement that Sector 17 police has arrested a 22-year-old woman and her 30-year-old friend for placing a camera in the washroom of a Girls’ PG.
#WATCH | Chandigarh: On a hidden camera found installed in Chandigarh Sector 22 girls' PG washroom, Ram Gopal, DSP, Chandigarh says, "…There is a PG in Sector 22… A girl came and complained that there was something like a camera above the geyser in her bathroom… Police… pic.twitter.com/sJvFq2B4jk
The DSP said, “There is a PG in Sector 22. A girl approached and complained that there was something like a camera above the geyser in her bathroom. The police immediately reached the spot and recovered a web camera. An FIR was registered, and one girl from the same PG was found guilty. Further investigation revealed she installed the camera on instructions of a man living in Sector 21. Both the accused have been arrested.”
The matter came to light on 26th November when a 39-year-old woman from Fazilka, living in the same paying guest house, noticed a camera light in the washroom without switching it on. She immediately informed a friend and the house owner about the camera. The house owner further called the police, and a team responded to the complaint. Upon investigation, they zeroed in on a 22-year-old young woman living in the PG. The camera was placed near the geyser in the washroom.
Upon further investigation, the police found that the camera had been bought from the Sector 45 market. The accused woman claimed that her friend, a 30-year-old man named Amit Handa from Sector 21, blackmailed her into placing the camera in the bathroom. The accused was preparing for IELTS, while Handa is reportedly unemployed.
As per reports, the camera was Wi-Fi enabled, and both accused had access to the live feed. However, the police said there was no recording facility in the camera. The device recovered during the investigation has been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory for examination. The police have not recovered any video, but the precise details about the content will be revealed only after receiving the forensic report.
An FIR under Sections 354-C (voyeurism) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Section 66E (violation of privacy) of the Information Technology Act, have been registered at the Sector 17 police station.
Chandigarh University MMS controversy
A similar matter came to light in Chandigarh University (Mohali) last year. In September 2022, a female student allegedly filmed multiple female students bathing and shared the videos with a male accused. Three people, including the female student, were arrested in the matter. Protests had erupted in the University, leading to a lathi charge by the police.
Further investigation revealed that the student claimed she only filmed herself and shared those videos. The matter led to political turmoil, and the Punjab CM had to ask to maintain the region’s peace. A high-level probe was initiated into the matter.
The United States Justice Department has filed an indictment against an Indian national for his alleged involvement in a foiled plot to assassinate a US-based Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.
The US Justice Department has claimed that an Indian government employee (named CC-1), who was not identified in the indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, recruited an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta to hire a hitman to carry out the assassination, which was foiled by U.S. authorities, according to prosecutors.
Gupta is currently in custody and has been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Czech authorities had arrested and detained Gupta on June 30, pursuant to the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic.
In its indictment, the US Justice Department has claimed that, earlier this year, an Indian government employee working together with others, including Gupta, directed a plot to assassinate a political activist who is a U.S. citizen of Indian origin residing in New York City.
In a detailed indictment, the justice department has also shared a photograph where money is being exchanged between two unknown persons whose faces cannot be seen.
15 page US court details how the plan was to kill Khalistani extremist Pannu, names one Nikhil Gupta aka Nick who was recruited to "orchestrate assassination of victim"; Mentions how $15000 were arranged, pictures released in the court document. pic.twitter.com/nJPp0L4ueJ
It is claimed that Gupta is an associate of CC-1, and has described his involvement in international narcotics and weapons trafficking in his communications with CC-1. The indictment claims CC -1 directed the assassination plot from India.
On the matter, Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen is quoted as saying “The dedicated law enforcement agents and prosecutors in this case foiled and exposed a dangerous plot to assassinate a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil. The Department of Justice will be relentless in using the full reach of our authorities to pursue accountability for lethal plotting emanating from overseas.”
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said: “When a foreign government employee allegedly committed the brazen act of recruiting an international narcotics trafficker to murder a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, DEA was there to stop the plot.”
The Justice Department claimed that in or about May 2023, CC-1 recruited Gupta to orchestrate the assassination of the activist in the United States.
At CC-1’s direction, Gupta contacted an individual whom he believed to be a criminal associate, but who was in fact a confidential source working with the DEA. The source it is alleged introduced Gupta to a purported hitman, who was a DEA undercover officer. The purported hitman was offered USD 100,000 to murder the Khalistani terrorist, the Justice Department claims.
The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The indictment follows the recent sharing of information by the US on a nexus between organised criminals, gun runners and terrorists. India has since formed a high-level inquiry committee to address the security concerns highlighted by the US government, the External Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday.
The MEA said that India takes such inputs seriously since they impinge on our national security interests as well, and relevant departments were already examining the issue.
The MEA further added that in this context, on November 18, the Government of India constituted a high-level inquiry committee to investigate all the relevant aspects of the matter.
The document also mentions the murder of another Khalistani terrorist named Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. The justice department mentions Nijjar as ‘another Sikh separatist leader’ and claims that on June 20, the Indian government employee sent a news article about Pannun to Nikhil Gupta and added “It is a priority now”.
A food stall managed by a man named Abdul Shemim at Erumeli has been accused of serving food cooked in toilet water to Sabarimala pilgrims during the peak season of pilgrimage. Notably, Erumeli lies along the routes leading to the revered Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
During inspection, it was found that the shop was using a hose from the adjacent toilet for water supply to make tea and lime juice. According to Republic TV, visuals of the incident showed that a blue-coloured hose was found connecting both the adjacent bathroom and the shop selling the liquids. The pipe was coming out from the grill of the toilet and it extended up to the shop.
(Image Source – Republic)
Initially, the shop owner claimed that the toilet water was used only for dishwashing and not for cooking purposes. However, recorded evidence showed otherwise. Subsequently, the Revenue Vigilance Squad and the Health Department registered a case against the accused Abdul Shehim.
Attention Hindu Brothers 🚨🚨
There's a possibility that this nefarious act might happen to you in Kerala!
This bad incident took place in Erumeli, Kottayam, Kerala!!
Erumeli is mostly known as the main path to Sabarimala, a special place for Hindu pilgrims. It’s a major stop… pic.twitter.com/n6UETjgBX4
The unsanitary practice was caught by Ayyappa Seva Sangh when it was conducting an inspection. The suspicion initially aroused about the eatery’s unhygienic practices when a foul smell started permeating the vicinity. Through inspection, the Ayyappa Seva Sangh revealed that the food stall was being managed by Abdul Shehim who also serves as the area secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of CPIM. It was also revealed that the accused had been using toilet water for cooking for Lord Ayyappa devotees for approximately two weeks.
Subsequently, a combined inspection was conducted by the Revenue and Health department and a stop memo was issued to the shop. According to Erumeli Revenue Special Squad Charge Officer Deputy Tehsildar Biju G Nair, the investigation is ongoing, and further inspections have been planned in the coming days. He emphasised that accountability goes beyond the food stall owner and claimed that action will also be taken against the contractor who was responsible for allowing the hose connection from the toilet tap.
As per a Manorama Online report, an alert team from the revenue department apprehended a food stall vendor in the act of connecting a hose from the toilet pipe to obtain water for preparing food for Sabarimala pilgrims. The health department swiftly intervened, shutting down the temporary shop, and initiating legal actions against the license holder.
The shop was reportedly granted a temporary license to sell non-edible items, however, it was flouting that rule as well.
Republic TV reported that after repeated calls to the police, the officials maintained that no case had been filed. The report added that it didn’t lodge a case despite the fact that the police team was physically present at the site. The BJP local unit alleged that CPIM and Congress were trying to protect the shop owner and not filing a case.
It is important to note that the incident occurred during the peak season for the Sabarimala temple. The 41-day pilgrimage which is known as the mandala (season), scheduled for December and January is all set to begin.
Days after disgruntled BJP leader Subramanian Swamy made a bizarre claim that visuals of PM Narendra Modi taking a sortie in Indigenous fighter aircraft Tejas were fake because the ‘glass cover’ was not closed, BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy responded to him today. As Swamy had claimed he was told by an Air Force officer that the photos were fake, the former civil aviation minister said that the Air Force officer might be fake instead.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook a sortie in the Indigenous fighter aircraft Tejas in Bengaluru on 25th November. Several videos and photographs of the same were published in the media. However, two days later on 27 November, former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, who is unhappy with the Modi govt for not getting a place in the cabinet, posted on X that an air force officer told him that the photos were fake because they show PM Modi flying in an air force Jet without the glass cover 25,000 feet above and waving out.
Dr. Swamy, ( @Swamy39 ) I have read your tweet alleging that the Prime Minister was flying the Tejas LCA without the glass cover, suggesting that the canopy waving was fake. It's possible the Air Force officer who briefed you is clueless about aviation, as he himself might be… https://t.co/g48NowvUCE
Swamy claimed that the pictures are fake because at that height Modi would have been sucked out by the atmosphere and fallen to the ground.
The politician was immediately fact-checked by social media users who pointed out that the visuals clearly show the glass canopy on the fighter jet. In close-up images taken from inside the jet, reflections behind and above PM Modi can be seen, indicating that it is the glass canopy. Similarly in photos taken from another jet flying alongside, the canopy is clearly visible.
Today Rajiv Pratap Rudy responded to Swamy’s bizarre claims, saying that it’s possible the Air Force officer who briefed Swamy is clueless about aviation, as he himself might be fake and lacking knowledge about flying or fighter jets. “Only the blind would not see that Mr. Modi was in the Tejas aircraft with the canopy closed, accompanied by his instructor,” said Rudy, who is a pilot himself.
He said in his tweet, “As a pilot who has had the privilege of flying these fighter aircraft with instructors, I can confirm that Mr. Modi was fully geared up in his G-suit, and the pressurised canopy was closed. It’s entirely possible for parallel aircraft flying nearby to take photographs from outside, and there are also cameras fitted inside the cockpit. Not only fighter pilots but any pilot with reasonable experience can attest to this.”
Dr. Swamy, ( @Swamy39 ) I have read your tweet alleging that the Prime Minister was flying the Tejas LCA without the glass cover, suggesting that the canopy waving was fake. It's possible the Air Force officer who briefed you is clueless about aviation, as he himself might be… https://t.co/g48NowvUCE
Rudy added, “I am shocked and surprised that someone like you would make such comments without verifying the authenticity or credibility of the Air Force officer who briefed you. Worse yet, your credibility is now reliant on unverified comments.”
The BJP leader also demanded that Swamy disclose the identity of the ‘air force officer’ who told Swamy that the pictures are fake. “You should also disclose the identity of this Air Force officer, who is tarnishing the image of our prestigious Air Force in general and the Honorable PM in particular. I believe, prior to the Prime Minister’s office responding, you should consider deleting the tweet and issuing an apology to the nation,” he added.
PM Modi taking a sortie in a twin-seater Tejas aircraft is considered very significant, because it displays the PM’s and the government’s confidence in the indigenous aircraft. Wile VVIPs flying in twin-seater fighters are not uncommon, previously all such flights were in twin-engine jets. For VVIPs, a twin-engine aircraft is considered a requirement for safety purposes. President Droupadi Murmu recently flew in a twin-engine Sukhoi-30MKI. However, Tejas is a single engine aircraft, therefore it shows the govt’s confidence on the jet.
The jet the PM flew in was a brand new one handed over to the Indian Air Force only a month ago, which is a dual-seat Tejas trainer which is also a multirole fighter and fully combat capable.
